Resumen de Weight systems in the Scandinavian Bronze Age
The current received view is that the economy of the Bronze Age of northern Europe was based on gift exchange rather than trade. This paper, based on a comparative analysis of three groups of Scandinavian bronze and gold artefacts – bronze statuettes of ‘goddesses with necklets’, golden ‘oath rings’ and Fårdrup bronze axes – suggest that there were one or more standard weight systems in use in Bronze Age Scandinavia. The author uses these data to state a case for a trade economy, reminiscent of the Mycenaean world.
